1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming machine, such as a slot machine, that moves plural symbol columns along cell columns defined as symbol stop positions, and determines whether a combination of symbols displayed in a predetermined cell group when these symbol columns are stopped forms a predetermined prize winning pattern.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventionally known slot machine, plural cells serving as symbol stop positions are defined so as to be arranged in a matrix of a predetermined number of rows and number of columns on a front surface of a casing, and a physical or virtual reel is disposed with respect to each of cell columns in a longitudinal direction. On the reel, plural kinds of symbols, for example, numerals or drawing patterns are arranged in a predetermined arrangement sequence, and thus each reel serves as a symbol column. When a player deposits coins or alternative coins such as medals or tokens and performs a betting operation, a game starts and reels start to rotate along cell columns. If a predetermined stop time elapses, the reels are stopped such that one symbol appears in each cell. If the symbols stopped in the cells form a predetermined prize winning pattern, for example, a pattern where the same symbols are arranged in a row direction, an allotment according to the prize winning pattern is provided to the player. In this kind of slot machine, generally, cell sizes are equal to each other, and one symbol is disposed in a region on the reel corresponding to one cell. The stop position of the reel is controlled using the size of the corresponding cell in the column direction as a unit. Thereby, one symbol is displayed in one cell. A gaming machine of a slot machine type where an allotment higher than that of the normal case is provided when plural symbols of the same kind are disposed on a region on the reel having the same size as that of one cell and these symbols are included on a prize winning line is provided (for example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2).
[Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 7,473,173B2
[Patent Document 2] U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,111 A
In the conventional gaming machine, the plural symbols are simply stored in one cell and the sizes of the cells never change. Since the stop position of the symbol is controlled in a cell unit, a high allotment is obtained only when the plural symbols are stopped in a prize winning determination target cell. Accordingly, from the standpoint of the player, the high allotment is obtained only in the extremely limited case and a player's expectation for a realization of the prize winning pattern cannot be sufficiently heightened.